Granary Barn Main Road | Elm | Cambridgeshire | PE14 0AB GRANARY BARN An immaculate home once a grain-store barn Dates back centuries, full of rustic charm. The recent conversion was a work of great care, No expense spared – it’s quality is rare. Spacious rooms are topped with original old beams With walls of glass through which the light streams. Fun extras like cinema, sauna and swimming pool Make it family living, with just a walk to school. Granary Barn • Superbly presented Family Residence in pretty Village Setting • Public Transportation with Bus Stops and access to Downham Market, March and Kings Lynn Train Stations • Local Amenities with 2 Public Houses and a Primary School. • North Norfolk Coast within 35 Miles (Old Hunstanton within 32 Miles) • 4 Bedrooms, 4 Reception Rooms, Family Bathroom & 3 En Suites • Indoor Pool, Cinema Room, Snooker Room, Gardens & Courtyard • The Accommodation Extends to 6,691 sq. ft. In a conservation area in the attractive and an enchanting, sheltered courtyard complete sought-after village of Elm, North Cambridgeshire, with three-tiered fountain, in an ornamental pond stands a very handsome historic barn, a home to many fish, who will be staying. Here, two hundred year old grainstore which was apart from the end section housing the swimming converted into a dwelling in 2007. Set well pool, all the accommodation is converted from back from the road, and not far from the the old, featuring terracotta pantiled roofs, beautiful early Georgian ‘Elm House’, to which heavily-timbered vaulted ceilings, and, on the it originally belonged, it is still in a working farm inside, entirely glass walls with dark-stained timber estate environment which has been trading for frames, opening into the courtyard. “The outside generations. The approach is through a pair of feels part of the inside, and we sit many a time in five-bar gates, and down a wide gravel drive the courtyard,” says the owner. “At night time it flanked by lawns graced with a walnut and a fir becomes very special indeed. We held my dad’s tree; the façade is impressive with its stretch of eightieth here one summer with all the doors into slate roof over the mottled brick wall studded the courtyard open - it was such a beautiful day with ventilation diamonds, and large barn doors and the perfect place for a party. On Boxing Day either side of ground-to-roof glazing. This frontage we had forty people here when people moved also belies the extent of the property which sits from one space to another - we had some behind. people in the kitchen, some playing snooker; you could easily accommodate a hundred people with No Expense Spared room to spare.” The conversion of this Grade II listed building was undertaken by a builder who spent five years Immense Rooms turning the barn into a residential property, with On entering Granary Barn, you step into a very no expense spared. As the current owner, who impressive hallway. A timber, open staircase has lived here for the last five years, tells us: “The stretches up to a galleried landing under a property has been a labour of love; everything catherdral-like vaulted ceiling with original roof was fitted with high quality materials, and to rafters. Apt and practical, stone paviours are an exceptional standard of craftsmanship. The underfoot, which extend into a spacious open- bespoke kitchen alone took eight months to build, plan sitting area to one side. Oak panelling to with its attention to detail and decoration second dado height lines the walls. On the other side, to none. There is English oak panelling in many behind a wall of internal glazing is a huge, nearly rooms, and the window frames and external thirty feet long, carpeted snooker room with large doors are all hardwood. It took five years to window at one end. The ventilation diamonds in complete!” the brickwork act as windows and are featured highly with hefty oak frames. As in the hall, the Enchanting Courtyard entire room is lined up to dado height with oak Where the old granary part of the barn is over panelling, and the original structural timbers are The build quality was done to such a high standard two floors, the rest of the property behind is overhead. mostly single-storey on a square plan, surrounding that the energy costs are very competitive” Impressive Handbuilt Kitchen Behind the snooker room, through an inner hallway with doors opening into both a wine ‘cellar’ (with oak wine racks for 320 bottles), a utility room and a downstairs lavatory, you reach the vast kitchen, all with ceramic tiling underfoot. The size of the kitchen is vast at over forty-three feet long and twenty feet wide. With a dining area at one end, the working part of the kitchen is on a raised plinth and features a beautiful, handmade, traditional-style, solid oak kitchen which blends in perfectly with its surroundings. A large central island dominates with a solid oak worktop and sink within it, and breakfast bar incorporated. A four-oven black Esse electric range-style cooker has halogen tops under dual lids, and sits snugly into an exposed brick recess against the wall. All the white goods are integrated so nicely concealed into the extensive base units, and together with further cupboard space above, storage is certainly not an issue. Double patio doors at each end of the inner wall of glazing open onto the courtyard from the kitchen. More at the far end to the right of a double-sided log-burner in a central chimney breast, lead into an oak floored cinema room, which benefits the log-burner from the other side. Another very large room at over twenty-two feet long, and again with oak panelling around the room, the large, drop-down cinema screen and projector will be The property has been a labour of love; everything was fitted with high quality materials, and to an exceptional standard of craftsmanship. The included in the sale of the property. bespoke kitchen alone took eight months to build, with its attention to detail and decoration second to none” We renovated the swimming pool in 2016 when we replaced the liner along with the sand filter. Like the central heating, the pool is heated by The more we have lived here, the more we have fallen in love with it. Despite its size, it has a nice, homely, family feel to it, perhaps that’s mains gas. We have two high quality Keston boilers which we recently fully refurbished so they are as good as new” because we really do use every room” Energy Efficient Home renovated the swimming pool in 2016 when we replaced even upstairs. The boilers run like a dream and are quiet A wall of glass down one side of the cinema room the liner along with the sand filter (this circulates the as a whisper. All the vaulted ceilings throughout have overlooks the lovely pool-room, ‘pool’ in two senses of water through the pool and the pipework). Like the been lined with Kingspan insulation, and in 2007 energy the word as the owner currently has a pool table at the central heating, the pool is heated by mains gas. We efficient Pilkington K double glazing was installed.” All far end! In the far corners are a sauna, and a compact have two high quality Keston boilers which we recently these things provide a home that is cost effective to run. shower room/WC making this a well-equipped and fully refurbished so they are as good as new. There is “The build quality was done to such a high standard that luxurious space for leisure and relaxation. Non-slip tiles a special control panel for the pool which ensures the the energy costs are very competitive,” attests the owner. entirely surround the pool, and double patio doors open pool runs more efficiently too,” informs the owner. onto the garden and outside terrace at this far end. “We “There is underfloor heating throughout the property, Further Potential Also on the ground floor, with double doors on the far side onto the garden, is another spacious reception room with ceramic tiled floor, and between this and the hallway, is a study which would happily turn into a fifth bedroom should someone so wish, since the downstairs bathroom is almost opposite. In fact, with so much space and so many large rooms in this property, you could easily have a self-contained living area for elderly relatives here downstairs. The long, ‘boathouse’ integral garage with its timber double doors to the front, is accessed internally from a door down this side too. The downstairs bathroom is generously sized and houses a large bath in a beautifully crafted and panelled oak recess, lined with mirrors enhancing the feeling of light and space. A traditionally-styled lavatory with high-level cistern and an ornate washbasin complete the setting. Vaulted Ceilings Upstairs, the four bedrooms are a fabulous size, all enjoying part of the roofspace. Bedrooms two and three are particularly spectacular not only with their high vaulted ceilings and old roof timbers, but also with windows in the gable ends and the feature diamond ventilation-brickwork windows; and they both have lovely en suites. All the bedrooms have solid oak floors, and the master bedroom has an extremely long walk-in wardrobe as well as an enviable timber balcony overlooking the courtyard reached down timber steps. The sizeable en suite for the master is up some open timber stairs into the beamed roof, a traditional suite including a roll-top bath with ball and claw feet centrally positioned under the window at the far end.